The invention relates to an open roof assembly for a vehicle, comprising a roof opening defined in the roof of the vehicle and a moldable closure mechanism for closing and opening said roof opening.
The closure mechanism comprises an outer cloth and an inner cloth mutually spaced in the closed position of the closure mechanism, wherein the closure mechanism at its opposite longitudinal edges, which extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, is provided with a number of spaced slides. The slides are driven and are movable along guides extending along corresponding longitudinal edges of the roof opening. The slides carry elongate folding arms that, with their ends remote from the slides, support the outer cloth and inner cloth and that are biased towards a position for zig-zag like folding the closure mechanism during opening of the roof opening.
In the closed position of the closure mechanism the slides are spaced maximally, and the folding arms extend substantially parallel to the roof opening. The remote ends of corresponding elongate folding arms at opposite longitudinal edges of the closure mechanism often are interconnected by primary supporting beams extending transversally, which directly support the outer cloth, thus defining the position of the outer cloth and preventing sagging thereof between the longitudinal edges of the closure mechanism. (It is noted, however, that such primary supporting beams will not be necessary when the closure mechanism is flexible lengthwise, but not in transverse direction, e.g. when comprising lengthwise hingeably connected, transversally extending slats, and that in such a case the remote ends of the folding arms themselves will directly support the outer cloth.)
In a known open roof assembly of this type, further flexible loops are provided attached to the inner cloth (or to secondary supporting beams extending transversally and attached to the inner cloth, when applied) and connected to the ends of the folding arms remote from the slides (or the primary supporting beams, when applied). The distance between the inner cloth and outer cloth in the closed position of the closure mechanism basically is determined by the length of these flexible loops.
The biased folding arms may comprise rigid arms hingeably connected to the slides or may comprise flexible arms rigidly connected thereto. The bias strives to move the (remote ends of said) arms towards a position for forming the folds in the closure mechanism when the latter is moved towards its open position.
When, in this known open roof assembly, the closure mechanism is moved towards its open position, the slides are moved towards each other, whereas the biased elongate folding arms pivot around the slides towards a position in which they extend upwardly from those slides. As a result the elongate folding arms will fold the closure mechanism in a zig-zag like manner.
Whereas, in this known open roof assembly, the elongate folding arms may effectively take care of folding the outer cloth in the desired zig-zag like shape, these folding arms cannot prevent the inner cloth from shifting (sagging) relative to the outer cloth, because the flexible loop connecting the inner cloth with the ends of the folding arms remote from the slides allows such a movement of the inner cloth. As a result, the inner cloth will partially go limp and sag. In this sagged condition it may touch adjacent parts of the vehicle, such as seals, a rear window, etcetera. Such contact between the inner cloth and those adjacent parts of the vehicle, however, is undesired because, when the closure mechanism moves, staining and wearing of the inner cloth will occur.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an open roof assembly of the type referred to above, in which this disadvantage is solved in a simple, yet nevertheless effective manner.